The Ghost Boy
by Iymea
Summary: Maybe sneaking into the hotel room of a pair of hunters wasn't the best way to spend his Saturday evening. (Part Three of The Supernatural Halfa series)

(Disclaimer - I do not own Danny Phantom or Supernatural)

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"Woah…" Danny's eyes were wide as they scanned the crumbling hotel room. The hotel itself had fallen to pieces more times than anyone could count but somehow the owners still managed to keep it open. While he'd never been in one of the rooms before, he was pretty sure this wasn't normal.

Double checking that he was alone, he became visible. His ivory hair fell in his face as he looked up at the chalk drawings on the ceiling. This was crazy, even for Amity.

Danny glanced at the door behind him, before walking further into the room. The furniture had been pushed to the walls, leaving a large circular rug alone in the centre. The wallpaper was littered with red markings that looked as though they could have meant something. What was weirder was the bizarre buzzing noise coming from the corner. Cocking his head in curiosity, the halfa picked his way across the room.

He couldn't help but wonder if this cult-looking stuff had anything to do with the hours of witch hunting tips he'd sat through yesterday evening. Apparently these 'hunters' believed in more than just ghosts and demons. While Danny was unsure about the whole 'Crowley is a demon' thing, angels and werewolves were still on his never-gonna-happen list.

A box beside one of the beds caught his attention as he walked. It was simple – just an old wooden chest that looked like it had been in its fair share of battlefields. But there was something about it… maybe the star shaped marking on the front, that made him look twice.

He shouldn't.

Scoping out the room was bad enough. Rummaging through their belongings was a whole new level of wrong.

But then… what better way to get a read on the duo than by checking out their stuff?

They'd never know...

"Please don't be underwear," Danny muttered under his breath as he crossed to the wooden container. Steeling himself, he phased his hand through the lock and lifted the lid.

It wasn't underwear.

"Yikes!" The teen dropped the lid in his shock. When the hunters had come to the school with guns in their holsters, Danny had naively believed that, that was the worst they'd have. Even after their talks about silver bullets and decapitation he never thought- In Amity, ecto-guns were all the rage. But in there...

Shotguns, knives, eleven inch blades – arsenal that would make Skulker proud.

Danny didn't notice that he'd stumbled backwards until he tripped up on the edge of the rug. At this point, several things happened. In the time it took Danny to fall, green bars shot from the floor, hitting the ceiling before creating a disk overhead, the chalk symbols he'd previously spotted lit up a fraction and the buzzing got significantly louder.

The teen groaned as he lay on his back, staring blankly at the green disk above. What just happened?

"Well the cage works," a gruff voice declared from across the room. Danny lifted his head to see both hunters exit the bathroom. Of course. The bathroom. Why hadn't he thought of that? The halfa threw his head back onto the floor before dragging himself upright and standing.

"Wow. A Fenton trap. I was under the impression you wanted to avoid that family," he muttered, his eyes doing a quick sweep of his new prison. He discreetly pulled on his intangibility, testing the floor below him. He couldn't pass through it.

The two ignored the comment, choosing to aim their oversized guns at him instead.

" _You're_ The Phantom?" Dean raised an eyebrow, the scoff evident in his voice.

Danny rolled his eyes _. Here we go…_

" _This_ is Danny Phantom? The ghostly superhero we've been hearing about for days?"

"Dean…" Sam warned, giving his brother a sharp glance before refocusing on the ghost boy.

"Aw, come on, Sammy! He looks like a bad Halloween costume."

"Hey!" Danny yelled, indignantly.

"How old are you? Ten? Have you even hit puberty?"

"I'm fifteen, so yeah!"

"Ooh, scary."

Sam's grip on his gun loosened as he rubbed his fingers across his forehead. Despite his clear disinterest in his brother's antics, Dean motored on.

"Hey, Sammy. You're surrounded by a nest of vampires. You don't have anything to fight them with. Then in bursts _Danny Phantom_. How safe do _you_ feel?" Dean's gaze moved very deliberately down the teen's not so muscly body.

Danny couldn't help the way his eyes narrowed. Just because he wasn't buff didn't mean he wasn't capable. He'd beaten the Ghost King, for crying out loud.

"Look, kid," Sam grunted, just as eager to cut short Dean's taunting. "We don't know all that much about your type of creature, so it'd be a lot easier for all of us if you just told us how to get rid of you."

The teen folded his arms, glancing up at the roof of his prison.

"You could try deactivating this cage?"

"That's not gonna happen," Dean cut in. Danny sent him a sharp glare. He'd been in confinement… what? Two minutes? Less? And already he was bored of it. He'd been locked up, mocked and tormented more times than he'd like to count and no matter how much his instincts told him he should fear these hunters, he just couldn't find the energy.

"Why don't we start off easy?" the taller man spoke again, holding one hand up as though to appease him. "You're a ghost, right? Do you know where you're buried?"

Danny couldn't help but scoff. "I wasn't buried."

"Of course you weren't," Dean groaned. "So what's got you hanging around? Did you give yourself a paper cut on one of your comics?"

"What?"

"Did you lose a few hairs in your toy cape?"

"Uh…"

"What are you connected to?" Sam clarified. Tried to clarify.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about," the teen answered, truthfully. This had to be related to their 'other type of ghost'. They'd mentioned it a few times, but Danny hadn't taken much stock in it. The more they'd talked to him, the less he'd believed them. Danny's eyes skimmed the trap once more, still scoping for an escape route. "What's with all the weird symbols, anyway? Do you hate the hotel staff or were you just redecorating? I gotta say, if you're part time painters there's definitely room for improvement."

"The town thinks you're a ghost," Dean started, his voice thick with distaste, "But we aren't so sure. So, rather than throw all of our luck in with the Fenton gear we nabbed, we decided to try a bit of everything."

The teen blinked, incredulous. "If you don't know what I am, why are you hunting me?"

It was Dean's turn to scoff. "You _have_ seen the state of the town, right? The fallen buildings. The giant holes in the walls? The craters in the ground."

"Well, I'm really sorry. Next time I'm attacked, I'll be sure to ask whoever it is to be gentle."

"That won't be a problem if there is no _you_ to attack," the older hunter challenged, regaining his hold on his gun. Danny rolled his eyes. This was another one of those 'Danny Phantom is the cause of it all' campaign. As if he needed any more.

It had taken forever for him to get away from thinking that himself. After all, he was the one that opened the Ghost Portal. He was the one who prompted Vlad into becoming the mayor of Amity Park which resulted in the unleashing of Vortex. He also happened to be the one who accidentally released the Fright Knight in an attempt to make his haunted house scarier than Dash's. And then there was the whole Skulker thing.

But his friends had helped him see different. If Danny hadn't been around, ghosts like Desiree, Technus, and even the Ghost King would have torn apart more than just Amity Park.

"Yep, blame it all on me. Everyone else does," he muttered, shrugging as though that little fact didn't bug the heck out of him.

"You don't wanna tell us how to get rid of you, fine." Dean nodded at his brother. Without a moment's hesitation, Sam moved closer to the cage, weapon primed as he reached into his back pocket. "We can always just experiment."

Danny couldn't help but backup, unnerved by the determination in the brothers' eyes. Whatever they planned on doing, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be good. The teen tried to pull on his ecto-shield, but something was stopping him. He glanced up at the symbols on the ceiling. Maybe they weren't as pointless as he'd first thought. A fresh wave of fear bubbled up within him.

The fear was quickly replaced with confusion as a very familiar voice sounded from behind the Winchesters.

"Hello, boys."

The brothers spun on the spot, their guns rapidly repositioning to find their new target. Crowley grinned back at them, hands comfortably perched in his trouser pockets. The look on his face said that he was very much used to having weapons of death pointed at him.

"Crowley?"

"Dean."

"What are you-" Sam cut in, words struggling to form on his tongue, "Why are you here?"

The King of Hell merely scoffed, "I could ask you the same."

Danny couldn't help but squirm as the man's gaze turned to him. No matter how hard he tried to deny it, the guy gave him the creeps. As though sensing his distress, Crowley's grin deepened. "Danny Phantom... You know he's only fifteen, right?"

Dean's eyes remained firmly on the demon, but Sam couldn't help glancing at the teen.

Danny swallowed. Having a pair of hunters in the same room as him was bad enough. Having a pair of hunters _and_ a powerful demon? If he were human, his heart would have been hammering. If only he could use his stupid powers.

"He mentioned. What's it to you?" Dean grunted, causing Crowley to raise an eyebrow. Rather than answering him, he took a few steps closer to Danny.

"Danny, Danny, Danny. If this is you getting close to them, you need to work on your espionage skills."

The teen didn't know what annoyed him more, the smug look on Crowley's face, or the frowns of accusation he was getting from Sam and Dean.

"You two are working together?" Sam asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Well…"

"No!"

"It's a work in progress," Crowley finished. He spared a glance to the ceiling, carefully checking that he was far enough away to avoid the trap. Danny's eyes narrowed.

"Why would you care anyway?" he snapped, redirecting his irritation to the brothers, "You were already trying to waste me."

"Tut, tut, boys. That's no way to treat a _superhero_ now, is it?" Crowley turned to face Sam and Dean, folding his arms as though he were reprimanding children.

"He's a ghost," Dean corrected, as if the two ideas were completely separate.

Crowley shot Danny a knowing look. "Well… you're half right." Danny couldn't help the spike of fear that rose within his chest. He was used to enemies knowing his secret. He was used to his friends knowing his secret. But to have _hunters_ find out about it? Humans that he couldn't just banish to the Ghost Zone if they got too close?

"Crowley," he warned under his breath. To his annoyance, it sounded more like a plea than a threat.

"Just trying to help," the demon quipped with a wink.

"You can help by getting me out of here."

"And spoil all the fun?" Crowley shook his head, ignoring the way the hunters gaped at them both. It was Dean who managed to pull himself out of his stupor first.

"What do you mean by 'half right'? What else could he be? Part demon or something?"

Danny could tell he was still trying to work out the connection between him and Crowley. What surprised him though, was the King's response.

"Oh, there's a bit of demon in there somewhere. But that's not what I meant."

"Wait, what?" Danny's head shot back in confusion.

"Later," Crowley mumbled, conspiratorially. He made his way to one of the beds and casually sank down onto the mattress. Danny cut off the growl that started in his throat. It annoyed him how entertaining Crowley was finding this. Being carefree in the face of danger was _his_ thing, and he hated it when it was used against him. Also… how was he any bit of a demon?

"Quit with the riddles, Crowley." Dean obviously had the same pet peeves. He gripped his weapon tighter, indicating his willingness to pull the trigger. Crowley raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I wasn't speaking in riddles… but I can if you like?" He cleared his throat, leaning back on the pillows in thought. "He who makes it, sells it. He who buys it, has no use for it. He who uses it, doesn't know it."

"Seriously?" Dean grunted.

"No, wait. I know this one," Sam interrupted, weapon lowering with his mild excitement. "A coffin."

Dean gave his brother a disgusted look, as though playing Crowley's game was the worst sin he could have committed. Something he and Danny apparently agreed on. Crowley had never looked happier.

"Yes! Exactly. A coffin. Something that… I don't believe you have?" He turned to look at Danny, mock consideration on his face. "But… funny thing is, you weren't cremated either."

Both Sam and Dean turned to look at their captive and he felt himself cringe. He shot a pleading look at Crowley but it did nothing to dampen the smirk.

"So… Are you saying his body is just… laying around somewhere?" Sam asked, examining Danny as though he were a painting on the wall rather than a sentient being. Danny didn't dare say anything for the fear of giving himself away.

"Well that ain't gonna be pretty." Dean gave a low whistle that only succeeded in sending a chill down Danny's spine. The look of glee that Crowley was giving him didn't help.

"Maybe," the demon muttered. "If there's a body at all."

"Really?" Danny growled, ignoring the looks of confusion on the hunters' faces. Crowley frowned in an overtly fake display of confusion.

"Sorry? Did I say something wrong?" His eyes latched on to Danny's, a clear layer of amusement under his pretend empathy. Danny's anger began to flare all the more. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from saying anything he'd later regret. Crowley took his silence as an invite to continue. "I was just trying to explain to these fine gentlemen that you aren't as simple as they think. You're not exactly an average ghost, are you? There are certain… _human_ qualities."

And that was all he could take.

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Danny snapped, taking a forceful step forward. "Is this some sort of revenge plot? I don't agree to help you, so you just decide to try and out me in front of the very ghost hunters you wanted me to warm up to? Way to win my allegiance _King of Hell_. What's next? Feed me to your Hellhounds or whatever it is you've got? Please Crowley, enlighten me on your incredible insight into the world of friendship because if this is how you go about it, I've been doing it wrong my entire existence!"

"There it is!" Crowley clapped and jumped up from the bed, waltzing as close to the cage as he could get without falling into the trap.

"What?" Confusion battled with anger as Danny watched Crowley's face darken.

"The Phantom rage," the demon clarified, his eyes alive with what could only be described as hunger. "I've heard so much about it. That darkness. It's beautiful. And your eyes… Do they always burn like that?"

Danny blinked, trying to get past the shock of Crowley's words. He got angry every now and again, but it wasn't _darkness_. It couldn't be. He was a teenager. Teenagers got angry. It was natural. He felt the burning of his irises die down.

"Giving powers to an adolescent. Genius. Such a pivotal age. School. Parents. First loves. The breeding ground for evil."

 _I am inevitable._ Danny gasped as the words of his evil future self sounded in his head. "Stop it," he whispered, unable to fully find his voice.

"Why? Danny, you are _perfect_. You have so much power, strength you haven't even begun to tap into." Crowley's hands were clasped into fists beside him as he spoke, his words sliding around the room like velvet. "Imagine what you could achieve if you branched out. You could take over Amity before anyone had the chance to say 'boo'.

Unsure as to what exactly was happening, the two hunters aimed their weapons.

"Stop it!" Danny's shout seemed to rock the whole building, though he couldn't tell whether that was just his imagination. His powers didn't work in here, it couldn't have been his wail.

Crowley's features softened, the previous hunger ebbing to reveal amusement.

"In answer to your previous question," he started, casting a wry look at Sam and Dean, "It isn't revenge. Trust me, if I were feeling vengeful, you'd be a lot worse off. No. I think you'll find, I'm saving your life." The man stopped, scoffing as he thought back on what he had said. "Sorry. _Half-life._ "

Before Danny could do or say anything else, Crowley turned to the hunters. "Boys, may I introduce you to Danny Phantom, half-ghost superhero of Amity Park, known better to his friends as Danny _Fenton_."

With that, the man pulled a device from his pocket, and aimed it at Danny. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that it looked like Vlad's Plasmius Maximus. But that wasn't possible… Crowley pressed the button and a barbed bullet shot straight from the device into Danny's shoulder.

Electricity coursed through his body, tearing from his shoulder into his icy core. He cried out, trying to pull the bullet from his skin as it continued its attack. Within a matter of seconds, he felt the change. For a second, he managed to catch a glimpse of the brothers. Their faces were stretched into pictures of pure shock, guns momentarily forgotten as they stared into the eyes of the school boy they'd been following around yesterday. The pain stopped, and he collapsed onto the floor.

"I am definitely keeping this," Crowley remarked as he put the device back into his pocket.

Fear kept Danny pinned to the floor. The Plasmius Maximus couldn't do _that_. His heart made its presence known by hammering through his entire body and his breath came out in ragged huffs as he fought through the electric after effects. Not wanting to see the hunters' reactions, he closed his eyes.

"What did you do?" Sam asked, the first to recover from his surprise.

"Oh, this thing?" Crowley tapped his pocket, smug grin on his face. "I had a few tech savvy demons modify a device for me. How does Danny Zapper sound? For a new name? Basically, I turned off his ghost half for a bit. You boys can do whatever you like now – he can't hurt you. On that note..." The demon gave a satisfied smirk before vanishing.

"Fenton is Phantom," Dean slowly declared, unable to tear his eyes from the still quivering teenager on their hotel room floor.

"Danny, you okay?" Sam called, cautious enough to keep the cage up, but not enough to abandon concern entirely.

Danny shuddered at the use of his name. This was wrong. This was all wrong. Why the heck had Crowley turned on him like that? Saving his half-life? He just revealed his secret to hunters he himself deemed worthy a threat. And on top of that, he'd temporarily stripped away his ghost half, leaving him entirely vulnerable with a _bullet_ in his shoulder. How was he supposed to heal through that? He grimaced before forcing himself upright. Deciding that he still wasn't ready to face the brothers, he sat turned to one side and inspected his wound.

Sam glanced between his frozen brother and Danny. The younger hunter reached into his back pocket, pulled out his EMF detector and turned it on. While it wasn't going berserk like it had when Phantom had first entered the room, there was still the faintest reading when pointed towards Danny.

"Dean..." he prompted, carefully.

Dean continued to stare at the boy in the cage.

Danny gritted his teeth, feeling Dean's eyes on him. Whimpering wasn't going to get him anywhere. He swallowed and then looked up to meet the hunter's gaze.

The conflict was evident. The crease in the older man's brow, the way his mouth was slightly twisted in thought, it was a look Danny was used to.

Seconds passed before Dean made up his mind. He pulled a black remote out of his jacket pocket and deactivated the cage. Without a word, he spun on his heel and exited the room.

Sam hesitated a moment, giving Danny a final once over, before following.

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AN: I did another one. So this is like... part 3 to my little SuperPhantom universe, but I think it stands well enough on its own! I have taken a lot of liberties with this one, so if any facts are incorrect, let me apologise but it works enough for me :P (There is a lot of scoffing in this...)

Hope you enjoyed it!

~Mea


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